Dh already put snap circuits on the list--I'm glad to hear they've mostly been a hit. We haven't sorted out the HP thing, but if we do that, it will probably be for his birthday anyway. (Early Jan) You guys have great ideas, some of them confirming my...suspicion? Not sure what word to use... That he's at an age where the gifts need to change. And, unfortunately, that they're going to get (generally) more expensive. :glare: Between Black Friday & relatives, though, I think it will be good, AND I'm excited to know what to look for. :001_smile: He had kind-of a dud year last year, & he was so great about it; I just want to make sure that doesn't happen again. :tongue_smilie:

I think the wise (& SILENT) listening is almost as good as chocolate. :grouphug:

Oh, I like it! Thank you.

I saw threads for girls...hopefully this isn't too much of a repeat. He's not into legos. We're planning to let him see Star Wars, Spider Man, & read/see Harry Potter for the first time in the coming year. He loves physics-based building toys--k'nex, magnetic marble thing, construx--things w/ movable parts. He likes to follow directions for building these things and coming up w/ his own ideas, BUT we've got 3 dc ages 4 & under, so avoiding small parts wouldn't be terrible. (Not necessary, either, though--he's got a safe place to play.) What about outdoor things? He's more of a book guy than a sports guy, but he's still a boy, lol, likes to bike, etc. :bigear:

Oh, good--you found it. I forgot to look. Sorry--postpartum brain & all. :tongue_smilie:

Can you watch videos on an android? Say youtube, hulu, etc. And I'm guessing the apps are the same, since the ones for the Kindle are in the "android store." I've just noticed that androids are less than 1/2 the price of the fire & wondered why.

I might have it--I'll look. Unfortunately, we've got scissors here, too. :p

I read on another thread that KF is just an android w/ some modifications. Why would a person want one over the other? :bigear:

So our landlord sent us a statement saying they would like to keep our deposit plus an additional month's rent. After we rented the place, I found reviews of the co online, so I knew they'd want to keep the deposit--this is par for the course for them. But I'd never imagined they'd send a bill asking for MORE $$. :glare: Trying to figure out what/how to do whatever needs doing. And annoyed to have to do it. $800 of what they want is a re-leasing fee, for breaking our lease. Which would be fine if we'd broken our lease, but we paid $1600 (2 mos rent while we weren't living there) in order to avoid that. Among other things.

I'm sorry--I haven't been on the curric boards in forever. What a nice surprise! I'm so glad the review was helpful to you guys. We did something similar for school last week, analyzing a newspaper article for bias. I think it's fun to see that stuff at first. Then depressing. :glare::lol:

Often, yes--not always. But it's easier for me to teach during nap time & then let them all play together if I need down time. And the littles behave better when they're awake if they know they'll get some time w/ the bigs at some point. :001_smile:

How do you get the sheets in there if you don't fold them? I fold everything. I iron nothing. :D

I found an article on a topic suggested by someone here. It was, as pp said, hard to find the facts amidst the opinion. So I read the article aloud to the kids, & they wrote a short response to it. Then I had them make a list of all the subjective adjectives, etc in the article. Finally, they made a list of facts (it was half as long as the adjectives). Now they're using the facts to rewrite the article & "flavor" it w/ adjectives/judgments on the opposite end of the spectrum. The goal? To see how facts can be manipulated.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/apple-cake-in-an-iron-skillet/ It's called apple cake, not pie, but I"m a pie girl, & this is good stuff. Even if you have to adapt it to be GFCF.

THANK YOU!!! This worked, & she's much happier. :grouphug:

I was just telling my dc about this thread. When I quoted the tutor's instructions, they both looked aghast (yay!), but what's really great is their assessment of the tutor: 8yo: Maybe he stayed up past his bedtime. 10yo: Maybe he was drunk. :lol: Ok, it's kind-of bad, but I'm *thrilled* that their natural inclination was...the same as mine. ;)

Ped urologist: (just got off the phone) $500 & a 6mo wait. And the snippy attitude. Just for laughs. :glare:

Oh, I don't consider the heads-up about the hospital controversy--I know I'm not likely to feel the same about that procedure as the mohel.

I just got off the phone w/ my OB (mw). They're the ones who've said they don't know what to tell me & maybe the pediatrician will know. What a run-around!

Yes, & I actually preferred to wait until about a week. I've called, googled, even called the mohel who did our previous circs. The only guy he knew here has gone back to Israel.

We'll figure it out, I'm just frustrated. W/ dh's income, I doubt we'd be approved for a cc, but family would help if we needed it, & we've got some $ saved for a van right now. I'm just FRUSTRATED that I keep being told something different. I *feel* taken advantage of, even if that's not actually the case. *sigh* It really shouldn't be this hard! :tongue_smilie:

I don't know--they all say something different. I think he's too old for an OB to do it & will have to see a pediatric urologist now.

I love our art prog: Phonics of Art. It teaches actual technique & isn't just arts & crafts. Ds (10) loves it. He's not particularly artistic--more of an engineering mind--but puts a lot of effort into it & gets good results. Dd (8) cries every time we do it. She's extremely artistic, but she gets frustrated w/ the SMALLEST instructions. Today we were drawing a rose. Step one was to draw an 8" box. She drew one line & needed a new page. Before she was done adding the grid, she was literally in tears because her grid lines weren't straight enough. :001_huh: I try to tell her not to worry about it, have fun, be at peace, CHILD!!! She finally got up to do chores instead of art. It makes me sad because this should be her favorite subject. I picked it for today as a NICE thing. An *easing* back into school. :(

I really hate to bring this up because I know how controversial it is, & I'd prefer to just be quiet & not say anything that lets anyone know where we stand on it. But I have a problem. So we circumcise. Our 1st 2 were circ'd by a mohel in TX--natural, low-key, no anesthesia. That's the way I'd prefer to do it this time, but I could only find 2 mohels here & only one of those returned my phone call. He charges $400; the one in TX charged $200. I was referred (by friends) to a couple of pediatricians who do circs in their office, but again--my phone calls were not returned. I assume this is at least as expensive as a mohel, though. So we went w/ the hospital option--prepaid about $250. BUT since ds was transferred to the Children's hospital downtown, the circ never happened. The dr there amazed me--besides care for his intestinal issues, she took the initiative to call my local hospital & make arrangements for us to bring ds back for his circ w/out paying an additional outpatient fee. I called the hospital to set up a time to have this done, & I was referred to the dr's private practice--to see when he was on or if he'd prefer to do it in his office. His office called my mw to work out arrangements. Mw called me back today to say that they can't do it at all--at a week old, he's too old for the hospital procedure. 1. Please assume the circ as a necessary thing--obviously I'm a little panicked at this point, since I preferred an out-of-hospital circ & couldn't find someone to do it. Trying again w/ the clock ticking--I'd hate for him to be TOO much older when it happens--is rather overwhelming. And I don't imagine it will be cheap. 2. The original payment will be refunded, but it takes 6 weeks to process. I explained to the lady that we need the $$ to pay someone else, that $250 is about a week's pay for us right now. She said she'd do what she could to rush it, but...even that doesn't sound like it would be enough faster to make a difference. I'm really frustrated. I don't know that there's anything anyone can DO, but I feel so stuck. If I could afford it, I'd fly home & have him circ'd there. W/ the added benefit of family getting to see the baby. :tongue_smilie: I'll take ideas or just commiseration. But please--if you're against circumcision, could you say so on a different thread? I'd appreciate it so much. Thank you.

LOL! I *wish*--they're GORGEOUS! And thank you. I think they're all pretty good looking. :D